First Second Books publishes great graphic novels.

13 posts from June 2006

June 29, 2006

This kid was about 9 or 10 years old. He was relaxed, happy-seeming, making funny little observations to himself in the way that kids do. I thought the woman sitting next to him was his mother, but then she got off a stop before him. I realized then he'd just been happily talking to himself.

June 26, 2006

This character appears in the forthcoming graphic novel Laika. The character is unnamed in the story, but I think of him as Charon. He’s actually a life saver rather than a ferryman to the realm of the dead, but he does play a similar sort of role. In the promo artwork I drew for the book (top), I wanted to make him wise but he ended up looking too friendly. For the final sequence, he’s been re-designed. Here are a few versions I played with – you only ever get to see his head, as he’s driving a truck the whole time, so I concentrated on his face. The two pencil sketches at the bottom are closest to how he appears in the finished book.

June 23, 2006

I forget where I did these drawings, only that the subject was a particularly beautiful and elegant woman. I do remember beginning and abandoning the first one knowing I just hadn’t caught her. The second time, I did.

June 16, 2006

Or “mobiles” as we call them in the UK. They are a menace on public transport. This guy was shouting into his on a tube at about 6pm. He was an estate agent, a realtor. I think he’d had a few pints, but that’s really no excuse. He wouldn’t shut up and was leering at everyone in sight, trying to draw them into his sweaty world. For some reason, the name 'Simon Truesong' jumped into my mind...